好的

[freefall]

If I'm hearing correctly, people often answer a question with 好的。How does the 'de' work into that? Is it being a possessive on the answer or something?

Thanks.

[HashiriKata]

Yes, you hear it correctly, people often answer a question with 好的。

Your question is a good one, but there aren't usually good answers for it (not a short one anyway!). The best I can think of is just to accept 的 as used here to give the reply some force of assertion. Be prepared to hear other common assertions such as: 真的, 是的， 。。。

[johnmck]

I have always taken the 的 to be there to make the link between the 好 and the statement made in the question. Thereby meaning agreement.

[fulgentius]

I have been told that there is an implied noun when a clause ends with "de". So 好的 could be translated as something like "good (one/thing/etc.)". You see a somewhat similar thing in Latin.

But then if I'm not mistaken it's really just an idiom and idioms don't have to make sense. Consider "okay": in spite of many theories of its origin it really doesn't mean anything except "okay".